Ububele: Helping Struggling Grade 1’s
Grade 1s who attend the bridging programme run by St Theresa’s School in Johannesburg received end-of-year certificates.
Thirty young girls from the Ububele bridging school project run by St Theresa’s School in Rosebank, Johannesburg, were awarded certificates at an end-of-year function.
Started by St Theresa’s School
St Theresa’s started Ububele in 2015 for girls from a less-resourced government primary school, and teaches pupils from Parktown Public School and the Salvation Army’s Strathyre Girls’ Home in Kensington who are struggling in Grade 1.
Ububele social responsibility director Geri Dal Col explained that it is important for pupils in the foundation phase to understand things like literacy and numeracy, so that they don’t struggle in Grades 2 and 3.
“Once they grasp the basics, it will really help them moving forward,” she said.
Ububele Means Mercy and Kindness
Ububele, isiZulu for “mercy and kindness”, is a fitting tribute to St Theresa’s founders, the Sisters of Mercy, Ms Dal Col said. Mercy schools’ core values include global responsibility, compassion, and partnerships.
She said St Theresa’s students and staff working in Ububele were directly putting into practice one of the central beliefs of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, who said no work of charity could be more productive to society than “the careful instruction of women”.
They Learn A Lot!
Ububele runs on Saturday mornings for about 20 weeks of the year. The young girls have classes in English, maths and IT, as well as life skills such as swimming, netball, beading, knitting, self-defence, public speaking, yoga, crafts and so on.
“We’re so proud of the girls, and really wanted to make the end-of-year party a celebration of their achievements and hard work,” said Ms Dal Col.
Apart from pizza, cupcakes and cooldrinks, the girls also enjoyed a jumping castle and “had an early visit from Father Christmas who gave each of them something small”, Ms Dal Col said.
- SACC Calls for Covid-19 Funeral Compliance - July 31, 2020
- Priest: Why I Sang At Bishop Mvemve’s Funeral - July 27, 2020
- Covid-19 Shuts Radio Veritas for a week - July 17, 2020
